Sugar Land is located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. It is the fastest-growing city in Texas—growing more than 158 percent in the last decade. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 78,901. Founded as a sugar plantation in the early mid 1800s and incorporated in 1959, Sugar Land is the largest city and economic center of Fort Bend County. The city is the third-largest in population and second-largest in economic activities of the Houston area.
Sugar Land is home to the headquarters of Imperial Sugar and the company's main refinery and distribution center was once located in this city. In addition, Sugar Land has a large number of international energy, software, engineering, and product firms.